


At wits' end (Held down)

by BFHwantsblood, Olivier_Mira



Series: Bingo 2019 [4]
Category: Noblesse (Manhwa)
Genre: Angst, Denial, Fix-It, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, M/M, NoblesseBingo2019, Pain
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-06
Updated: 2019-01-06
Packaged: 2019-09-30 03:43:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17216366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BFHwantsblood/pseuds/BFHwantsblood, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Olivier_Mira/pseuds/Olivier_Mira
Summary: Frankenstein nearly gets swallowed by the Dark Spear after thinking Raizel is gone.





	At wits' end (Held down)

**Author's Note:**

> Olivier: This fic was written immediately after 543. I was still trying desperately to process it. Thank all the gods of fangirls for BFHblood's help. This was also what eventually lead me to be able to write Noblesse Aeternus. It goes back and forth POV wise because I was barely lucid at the time lol. The set up is this: Frankenstein feels his bond with Raizel go dark and he goes feral. No one has been able to get near him; he’s attacking everyone. There was a huge crater created when he fought Crombel and he’s at the bottom of it. Crombel claimed that Rai was dead, that he (Crombel) had killed him. Frankenstein then slaughtered Crombel. He’s still covered in his blood. Raizel isn't dead, but Frankenstein doesn’t recognize his Master. He is still convinced that he’s gone. Raizel was knocked unconscious while he and Muzaka were taking the nukes into space, but he managed not to go into his coffin by sheer willpower because he knew how much it hurt Frankenstein the last time he disappeared. Raizel is almost completely powered down so he can’t really use his powers to help Frankenstein, but Muzaka brings him to the edge of the crater.

It was dark. Frankenstein's thoughts were a jumbled haze. _Blood… give me… blood… I need it… more… blood… must… drink._ He licked the outside of his clawed palm, blood and bits of bone still clinging to it. _Yesss,_ the Dark Voices hissed, _embrace it, your true self, yes! Finally, we shall dine together! Kill them all, yes, kill them allllllll!_ He lashed out, clawing at air, the seething rage still boiling inside him like molten lava, but there were no enemies present. Wait… there was something. Someone? _Yesssss, get him; let’s get him!_

Frankenstein was on the hunt. Ears perked, he dropped into a crouch, growling low in his throat. He could smell his prey, even if he couldn’t yet see him. Something was slowly making its way down the side of the crevasse. Something he needed to kill.

***

Raizel was beyond exhausted. He could feel Muzaka lurking around the edge of the crater, ready to jump in. It was a flicker of a thought as the rest of his mind was focused on his Bonded. At what his Bonded had become because of him. He had caused this and now he needed to fix it, before Frankenstein did something he would regret. His Bonded had always trusted him to bring him back and Raizel would not fail him, even if he was hurt. His knees collapsed under him, but he didn’t let it stop him from reaching out a hand. _Frankenstein, my beautiful Bonded. What have I done?_

***

Something was wrong. There was a buzzing in Frankenstein's head, like a radio frequency needing to be tuned. He shook his head violently, trying to dislodge whatever it was. But it persisted. Meanwhile, his quarry was being elusive. _Come, come, little prey, you won’t evade me for long._ Frankenstein began to climb, clawed feet and hands clinging to jagged stone like a reptile. Every few feet he shook himself, trying to make whatever it was go away. It was particularly bothersome because it was coupled with a sickening feeling, that something was drastically wrong, and he needed to deal with it immediately. But whatever it was, his brain had somehow neatly compartmentalized it and refused him access. No matter. _Killing will solve the problem. There is nothing that cannot be solved with fresh blood._

***

Raizel watched as his Bonded slowly moved up the crater. Dark Emotions were thrashing around Frankenstein like uncontrollable vines. He could feel his heart ache and there was wetness on his cheek that wasn’t blood. **I am so sorry, my Bonded. My beautiful human, how much pain I have caused you.** Raizel wasn’t scared that his Bonded would hurt him, he didn't care enough about himself to be afraid. But he had been afraid that he might have to leave his Bonded when Frankenstein needed him the most. Nevertheless, he refused to raise a hand to hurt him.

***  
  
Frankenstein sniffed the air as he started to approach the surface, wary. _We know that smell. The smell of wolves. Filthy, disgusting werewolves. We hate werewolves. Werewolves hurt Master. Let us kill them! Let us kill…_ His whole body twitched again, painfully this time, purple sparks flying in all directions. What was that thought he just had? _Werewolves hurt… **Master.**_ Where was his Master? What had happened to… Suddenly his hands started to shake and he lost his grip, sliding straight down the slippery surface of the crater, the sickening crack of bones welcoming him at the bottom.

***

Raizel curled inward at the sound of breaking bones. He tried to move his body, yet it was just so heavy.  _Master._ He froze, then lifted his head. **_Frankenstein, my Bonded._ **Their bond was open just so slightly and it made him almost feel dizzy with hope. **_I am here, my Bonded. You are safe_. **He prayed that something of that got through, even as his body shook with exhaustion.

***  
  
Frankenstein shook with convulsions, limbs twitching painfully underneath him. _What… what was that? Master?? Was that -_ But the Dark Voices were not having it. _No, it’s no one. We’re alone, now. They’re all dead. Everyone is dead. We killed them all. And we will keep killing. You promised us. You promised. You belong to us. You belong…_

That – that wasn’t right? Was it? He didn’t belong to them. He belonged to his Master. Where was…  
A scene flashed through his mind, like a rusty knife twisting into his ribs: Crombel, laughing demonically, a huge grin spread over his hideous features: “He’s dead! Your Master is dead! I killed him myself!” Frankenstein had snarled, fury dripping off of him like poisonous acid, and he had been about to deal a killing blow in retaliation for that remark… when he reached across his bond to Raizel, his lifeline, the one tiny thread tethering him to the world of sanity… and there was silence. Absolute silence.

At that point, any hope of rationality left him. He howled, a ghastly sound, the sound of pure agony, and everything went white.

***

Raizel could feel the Dark Emotions blocking him from his Bonded and he felt a rage roaring inside of him in a way it hadn’t even against the Union. His body rose and leaped down, only pure fury keeping him on his feet.

 _ **You will not keep me from my Bonded.** _Frankenstein was as much his and he was Frankenstein's and no one, not even his Bonded's own dark power, would keep Raizel from him.

The Dark emotions leaped at him, but before he could even react, a silver blur dropped down and pinned his Bonded to the ground. Frankenstein's power flickered weakly in protest.

“Stop being so slow, Raizel,” Muzaka snapped at him. 

***

The wolf had Frankenstein pinned to the ground and he started wailing again, but then something unexpected happened: the wolf howled right back at him. Straight into his face. No matter how loud, how guttural, how terrifying his shrieking, the huge wolf returned it in kind. For a confusing moment, it was as if they were crying out together, mourning something they had both had lost rather than fighting one another as enemies. Frankenstein stopped, exhausted, panting. The wolf panted with him. But there was someone else there. A voice he thought he knew. A cool hand on his shoulder. _But this cannot be…_

***

Raizel watched his two closest and oldest friends fight, yet it wasn't so much a battle as it was two souls wailing back and forth in anguish. He looked into Muzaka's grey eyes and saw pure sorrow.  ** _All of my failures writ large._** He touched Muzaka on the shoulder in reassurance before moving onto his Bonded. Carefully touching Frankenstein's cheek with shaking fingertips, he let the tiny bit of power he was able to muster flicker in his hand.

 ** _I am here, my Bonded._**  
  
***

Frankenstein could feel something, someone, a gentle hand on his cheek… it felt so much like his Master that he choked on a sob, squeezing his eyes shut. _It cannot be. Master is gone. Master left me. Master is no more. This is a lie. I must be hallucinating. I must be dying. That’s it. The wolf has dealt me a killing blow and now I am seeing my Master before I die._ He opened watery eyes and a vision of his Master’s beautifully melancholy eyes swam before him, teasing him. _That’s right,_ the Dark Voices said. _He is not real, only an illusion._ Frankenstein tried to claw at the illusion, but the wolf’s iron grip still held him fast.

***  
  
Raizel pushed his way through the bond, using his Bonded's shock to grant him a way in.

**_Quiet, Dark Emotions_** **.**

The Dark Spear roared at him, then froze. Frankenstein stopped it.

_If I am to die, it will be with my Master._

Raizel's heart broke at the resignation he could feel in his Bonded's tone.

 ** _I am here, my Bonded. Put the Dark Emotions away for me._ **Raizel now held both his Bonded’s cheeks so that Frankenstein could not look away from him.

***

Frankenstein didn't care anymore. He welcomed the illusion of Raizel’s softly glowing scarlet eyes appearing before him. _Go away, you Dark Pests. I’ve given you enough blood. Let me die in my Master’s arms._ Tears were streaming down his face. He reached out for Raizel/Not Raizel and the wolf, surprisingly, relinquished him. _Surely this must be a dream._ But he didn’t care. He threw his arms around Not Raizel’s neck and wept like a child.

***

Raizel could feel the change and nodded to Muzaka. Frankenstein was on him a moment later, tears running down his face. **_It’s ok, I have you. There is no need to fight, my warrior. The enemy has been defeated and it is time to go home._ **He ran gentle fingers though Frankenstein's tangled hair, hoping to calm his Bonded. He had never seen him so upset.  

***

A confusing torrent of emotions washed over Frankenstein. A part of his brain was relieved, so relieved, _Master... MASTER!_ It felt like Raizel; it sounded like Raizel; even _smelled_ like Raizel. But he knew his Master was dead. Crombel had said so. He had felt their bond go dark, like a poisoned arrow straight to his soul. This had to be some trickery, some devilry. A part of him didn’t care, just wanted to go with the illusion. But doubt crept into his heart like ice and he began struggling to get away.

***

 ** _You would trust that man over me. You would take his word over that of your Master_. **Raizel felt guilty for using that against his Bonded, but he was desperate. And a part of him just could not stand it that his Bonded doubted him. It wasn't Frankenstein's fault; Raizel knew this. But it _hurt like a thousand knives_ nevertheless. He tightened his hold, using what was left of his physical strength to force his Bonded closer so he could feel Raizel's body against his own.  ** _Frankenstein. Your body knows mine. Remember this._**  
  
***

 _He lies! Don’t listen to him!_ the Dark Voices hissed. Frankenstein was close to breaking, thrashing against the grip of the one holding him. He knew his Master’s voice! He _swore_ he had just heard it! It was one thing to imitate Raizel’s demeanor, but his rage… that was something exceptional. Frankenstein had only witnessed it a small number of times, but he’d never seen anything like it. While Frankenstein himself donned fury like a cloak, sweeping it on and off when it suited him for dramatic effect, woe betide the one who disrupted his Master’s seemingly endless calm should he turn his eyes like red hot coals upon them. A frisson of that rage had just touched him, he _swore_ he felt it…!

***  
Raizel was angry at the Dark Emotions who denied his existence. His power rose with his wrath and he could feel his eyes glowing, yet there was nothing he could take his vengeance out on. He would not hurt his Bonded. Instead, it came to him to feed it through their bond, to let that raging power heal instead of harm and help drive the Dark Emotions back. Frankenstein was not owned by anyone, not even the Dark Spear, and yet he was Raizel's until he wished to be otherwise. His Bonded, his companion, his to look after. No cursed weapon would take that from him.

***

Frankenstein felt like his skin was on fire. Something was happening inside him that he didn’t understand. A battle was being waged for his soul. He was suddenly on his back, flopping like a fish on the ground. It _hurt_. Everything hurt. The physical pain he could bear, but his heart felt like it was being eaten alive. The Dark Voices were merciless. _That’s right. This is what you deserve. Why would you think anyone would love you? Why would you think anyone would care? You’re a monster and you always have been. You’re going to die, alone, in this filthy hole. And then spend eternity with the Damned, because that's where you belong._

***

Raizel could feel every agonizing detail of the the torment his Bonded was going through as he flailed around, gasping for air. Finally letting go of Frankenstein, he let him lie flat on his back, still writhing in pain. Raizel then knelt down next to him, cradling his head between his arms, trying desperately to break through to him. _**My Bonded, you are not alone. Help me put the power away and COME TO ME.**_ Raizel felt weak with the power he was using, yet he would not give up on his Bonded.

***  
  
Frankenstein shook. _N-no!_ his mind cried out to the Dark Voices. _Y-your wrong. Master loved me. Master…!_ He pulled at his hair, trying desperately to clear his head. His entire being ached for Raizel. It cannot be true. _Master… Master… please…!_

***

 ** _My strong Bonded. The human who challenged Family leaders and won. You are Bonded to the Judge of Lords and will not let anyone stand in your way_. **Raizel tightened his grip to bruising _. **Come back to me, my Bonded**_ **.**

***

Frankenstein was fighting an inner battle. He clawed, he scratched, he wailed. The Dark Voices were loud, almost overpowering, but _he heard him._

_**Come back to me, my Bonded.** _

_Master!_

If there was even a chance that Raizel was still alive, Frankenstein had to try to reach him. He tried to quiet his mind to reach across their bond, but it seemed an impossible task. It felt like he was sinking in hot tar, everything around him was thick and sticky and foul smelling, and it was trying to suck him in: into anguish, into self-loathing, into utter despair. But Frankenstein fought it.

He hardly had any strength left, but he fought nevertheless. An image came to him, Raizel’s gentle smile as he thought of the children, whom he had nearly given his life to protect. Keeping that image forefront in his mind, he did the only thing he could think to do: he spoke his Master’s name aloud.

_"Cadis Etrama di Raizel."_

*** 

Raizel's heart leaped as he heard his Bonded say his name. **_Frankenstein, my Bonded. I am here with you._  **He leaned forward and rested his forehead against his Bonded’s. **_Come back to me._**  
  
***

Their foreheads touched and Frankenstein felt it like an electric shock, jolting his system like a defibrillator. _Master!_ Their bond surged open and he could feel, as if for the very first time, his heart beating in time with Raizel’s. Images flooded his brain, some of which he recognized, some of which were strange to him. His Master being felled, time and time again: Muzaka knocking him back into his coffin; great horned beasts tearing Raizel’s lovely pale skin with their ghastly claws, driving him deep underground; dreadful dragon-like creatures turning his Master’s bones to ashes with their blazing inferno. But each time, no matter how horrifyingly permanent his death had seemed, his Master returned: endless, ceaseless, everlasting. Such was the power of the Noblesse. Such was the power that he, Frankenstein, had forgotten.

***

Relief washed over Raizel like pure, cleansing waters when Frankenstein finally helped to pull the Dark Emotions back. Worried sapphire eyes looked up at him as they both lay panting together. **_All is well, my Bonded_. **Leaning back, he gently tucked a stray blonde curl behind Frankenstein's ear.  ** _You are safe._**

***

Frankenstein scrambled wildly, not caring that he was scraping his knees on the sharp rocks, desperately struggling to make it back into his Master’s arms. Raizel held him tightly and Frankenstein made a keening sound, like a wounded animal, all of the anguish in his heart flooding out in torrents. _Master. Master, you’re here. I thought I’d lost you. I thought I’d lost you forever. I couldn’t – I couldn’t-_ He started hyperventilating, taking in great gasps of air – _I couldn’t breathe_ -

***

“ **Breath with me, Frankenstein,”** Raizel said out loud and he was relieved when Frankenstein's next breath came with his. **_I am here with you_. **It was horrifying to see such a lost look in his Bonded's eyes, like he would never be whole again **.** He longed to see Frankenstein happy, with the children or bustling around in his laboratory. But at this point, even keeping both Frankenstein and himself upright was taking a lot out of him. It was doubtful he could even stand, let alone make the trip back to the house.  
  
***

Frankenstein inhaled deeply, breathing in his Master’s sweet scent, curling himself around him, wanting every inch of himself to be touching every inch of Raizel. _Alive. Safe._

_**Yes.** _

He ran his hands through his Master’s soft hair, taking a shuddering breath, pressing their foreheads together once more. The breathed each other in for several moments. Frankenstein let tears flow freely down his cheeks.

“M-Master, I-I doubted you, I’m s-sorry…” _I was so afraid._

_***_

**_I know. I know, my love. It's okay. All is well, my Bonded._** All Raizel could do was let Frankenstein have his fill. He couldn’t deny his Bonded anything at the moment.

“Are you two love birds done yet, Raizel?” Muzaka's gruff voice had him looking up to the top of the crater, almost wanting to glare at his friend. They were making him wait, he supposed. Frankenstein seemed to share his thoughts as he raised a hand and shot a spike at Muzaka.

_**Right back to normal, it seems.** _

Frankenstein responded by burying his head in Raizel's neck. Raizel kissed the top of his head, then raised his eyes again, trying to see if Muzaka was still there. They did need the werewolf's help to get out of this hole, after all. 


End file.
